Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

Eagle Castle has seen much better days. Neglected since the days of Magnus the Pious, first by the Emperors Leopold and Dieter IV and then by the ill-fated Haupt-Anderssens, the once-proud fortifications have fallen into near ruin. The enormous statue that once stood between the twin gates of the castle appears to have been bisected at the waist at some point, leaving only legs to give hints as to who it once represented.

The impression scarcely improves as you enter unchallenged, observed only by a plump donkey munching happily on a vine growing up one wall. To your left you can see the barracks flanked by two internal watchtowers, which would make for a good second line of defence if they were actually manned, and to your right is the now-infamous East Wing, boarded up ever since the mysterious and alleged death of Alberich II. Before you were sent to the Colleges of Magic, you grew up in the rule of his kinsmen - if you had to guess, you'd say his uncle and then his older brother, though you're not quite sure. They never lasted long.

Ahead of you is the only well-maintained part of the castle - the main keep.

The door creaks open as you push it, spilling light into the room, revealing a great hall apparently set up for dinner, though a layer of dust and the smell of un-aired damp tells you it has been set up that way for some time. A score of suspicious heads swivel to glare at you from their position on the right wall, gathered around a tiny fire in an enormous hearth. Each is clad entirely in steel plate, and twenty hands reached for the hilts of massive swords. Greatswords - the bodyguard of an Elector Count.

"Ma'am?" comes a cheery voice from your left, who you overlooked in favour of the large amount of armed and armoured men. A well-dressed young man bounds up to greet you with the enthusiasm of a puppy, hesitating only for a moment before greeting you with a short but polite bow. "Are you the Magister from the College?"

"Journeywoman," you correct. "Journeywoman Mathilde Weber." You hand over your letter of introduction from your Master. The armed men relax slightly at seeing that you're apparently expected, though they're still watching you.

The man, barely more than a boy, peers through the gloom at the letter. "Good, good. Let me be the first to welcome you, then. Apart from me you're the first of the councillors to arrive, but I've been told the others will be travelling with the Elector Count." He gives a short, nervous bark of laughter as he leads you towards the fire, ignoring the looks of suspicion from the Greatswords. "I don't suppose you've heard anything about him?"

You haven't, not a word, but you'll not undercut yourself so soon by admitting it. Instead you give your best disdainful look (you had practiced it in the mirror for hours) and he laughs again, sheepishly. "Well, of course you would have, you'll be the Spymaster after all. I'm Anton Kiesinger, I'm the diplomat."

You recognize the name. "The Baron of Blutdorf?"

He barks another laugh, and you feel the repetition of it starting to grind on your nerves. "No, that's my father. I'm Anton II."

You nod, starting to get an idea. "Served long, then?"

"Three years," he smiles proudly, unaware of the information he had just revealed. Unlike you, he was not a new appointee - he was a holdover from the previous Elector Count, and thus should be a lot more nervous about his position. Especially if this enthusiastic puppy act wasn't an act. If not... a political appointment? A favour to his father? It would explain why such a young and seemingly unexceptional man was appointed to such an important position. The Blutdorfs didn't control much land, but they did control much of the road to Wissenland and Reikland.

Then the doors slam open, and when you whirl you have to fight down the urge to reach for Ulgu to protect yourself. Standing silhouetted in the doorway is the largest Witch Hunter you've ever clapped eyes on, standing a head taller than the Greatswords, who each stand a head taller than you. The twin-tailed comet on his hat somehow manages to reflect what little light there is in the room, which almost but not quite keeps you from noticing the halberd slung over the man's shoulder.

Then you notice that the Greatswords around you had all stood to attention, and it dawns on you that the man in the doorway is your new Elector Count.

---

Introductions are hurried and brief. The giant of a man looks over your letter with far heavier scrutiny than Anton did, then eyes you with the same intensity, then gives a single nod and moves on to interrogate poor Anton. You very slowly begin to unclench your muscles as others follow him the hall. First behind your new liege is a short, muscled woman in her forties wearing worn travel leathers and pistols on her waist. Scuttling after her like a duckling after their mother is a small, skinny academic type, of the sort that infested the more mundane University in Altdorf. Third in this strange procession is a tanned, muscled burgher bearing the compass-and-square sigil of the Guild of Stonemasons and Architects upon his chest. Last of all is a bald, heavyset man in platemail, the warhammer in his hand announcing his profession as a Warrior Priest of Sigmar as loudly as the holy symbols festooning his armour.

As what you assume to be your new colleagues file in, the Greatswords file out, leaving two of their number behind to stand at attention on either side of the main doorway. The hall seems even darker and emptier with most of the crowd gone, but just as you registered that the flames in the hearth roared into life. The Elector Count straightened with a satisfied grunt, pouring the remains of the flask he had splashed onto the fire into his mouth. Attracted by the flames, the rest of you gather around him, the warmth of the fire banishing the damp of the room.

After a long silence broken only by the crackle of the flames, the Elector Count speaks.

"I am Abelhelm van Hal. For twenty years I have pursued the enemies of the Empire across its entire length, and the Emperor has seen fit to..." he hesitates for a barely noticeable second - "reward me with rule over Stirland. I consider it my primary duty to ensure that Stirland stands as a bulwark against the horrors contained within cursed Sylvania. You will all be the instruments of my will in bringing this to pass."

His eyes flicker across the group, before locking onto the academic.

"Professor de Verezzo. I want a full report on the combat readiness of Stirland's military, as well as their current postings and duties." Then his gaze turned to Anton. "Herr Kiesinger. I assume there are... ceremonies, for the crowning of an Elector Count. Celebrations, rituals. Arrange them. Make sure every landed noble that swears fealty to the Count of Stirland attends." He then looked to the only other woman present, and for the first time you saw something like a smile flit across his face. "Wilhelmina, I want a full accounting of the treasury, and for you to dig up the tax rolls and make sure nobody used the handover period to avoid paying what was due."

Then his eyes turn to you, and stay there, his expression blank. The others look between him and you as the silence stretches on, and then like it never occurred, he breaks it.

"Journeywoman Weber. Your task is to uncover and evaluate the intelligence infrastructure left behind by your predecessor. If it can be of use to you, seize it. If not, dismantle it."

You barely pay attention to the rest of the impromptu meeting, though you still catch the general gist of things. The Warrior-Priest, named Brother Kasmir, is told to locate and invite leaders of each of the approved Gods of the Empire to meet with him, one by one, and the architect - Herr Schultz - is to begin repairs on Eagle Castle. You're too busy trying to figure out how you'll go about this.

---

Anton guided you to a hideously dusty guest room above the main hall, with a bed half-consumed by mould, various pieces of furniture under sheets and a lovely view of a blank expanse of castle wall before shooting off to help one of the other 'guests'. You haven't seen accommodations this grim since you were a first-year apprentice. Still, you can't go far wrong with four walls and a sturdy door, and getting a fire going will help drive out the damp.

As the fire crackles to life, fed by the sheet that had been covering an almost serviceable desk, you sit down and take out the letter your Master gave you back in Altdorf.

To my former apprentice,

Letters will be sent to you; you will know them by their cipher. They will contain instructions; instructions unknown to and unsanctioned by the Grey Order. Should you fail to follow them, you will be declared rogue.

For what it's worth, I'm sorry.

Magister Regimand

Below the familiar handwriting is a cipher table, far more complicated than the typical substitution cipher. As you try to understand it, the letters and numbers seem to blur, and then they burst into agonizing brightness. By the time you're able to see again, the letter has been reduced to ashes, but every time you close your eyes the cipher table glows brightly on the inside of your eyelids.

Well, then.

---

You have six action points to spend for this turn; each turn lasts six months. An action point can be thought of as representing either a month of solid work or spending one day a week for six months on something, though please try to avoid thinking too hard about the abstraction. Tasks can be taken multiple times to dedicate more time and effort to it. Voting will be in plan format.

[ ] As Per Orders: Perform your current assignment.
-[ ] The castle is currently abandoned, but the former staff can't have just vanished. See if you can find where they disappeared to, and ask what they know of your predecessor.
-[ ] The nobles of Stirland may have had contact with your predecessor, and it sounds like they'll all be coming here for the ceremony. See if you can find out what they know.
-[ ] Surely there would be records, or notes, or piles of intercepted letters, or some sort of trail of your predecessor somewhere in this castle. Possibly behind a secret door. You eye the wall sconces in your room suspiciously.
-[ ] Your predecessor would have been paid, right? And a budget would have been drawn for their activities? And the woman called Wilhelmina is going over the finances anyway...
-[ ] Anton said he's been on the council for three years. That means he must have known your predecessor. See if he's willing to talk about them.
-[ ] Other (write in)

[ ] Laying Groundwork: You can't keep an ear out for gossip if nobody's talking to you. Go out and rekindle old connections with:
-[ ] Wurtbad: The townspeople of Wurtbad
-[ ] Surrounds: The peasantry in the villages surrounding Wurtbad; Julbach, Biderhof and Tarshof.

[ ] Money troubles: You're supposed to be paid, right? And shouldn't there be a budget for doing spymaster-y things? You should probably talk to someone about that.
[ ] Getting To Know You: Spend time with one of your fellow councillors, offering your help in their task and generally getting a feel for them (choose one)
[ ] Sucking Up To The Boss: Normally you'd just go about things and report in to the Elector Count when you've got something major to report. If you instead give him regular reports and updates, it may make him more willing to trust you, and allow you to better get to know him. Opening yourself up to oversight, criticism, and potential micromanagement is a heavy price to pay, though.
[ ] Letters Home: There's a lot of strangeness surrounding the appointment of yourself, your fellow counsellors, and your Count. See if anyone back home knows anything of what's going on.
[ ] Practice, Practice, Practice: Having been thrown into the deep end of imperial politics, it would probably be a good idea to brush up on your skills (choose one)
[ ] Combat Training: You're virtually surrounded by armed warriors of various sorts. See if you can convince one to teach you.
[ ] A Matter of Faith: Your personal shrine to Ranald is back in Altdorf. Construct a new one, so that He can better watch over you here.
[ ] Hang Out A Shingle: Spymasters don't advertise, but wizards sometimes do. Make an official announcement that there's a wizard in residence, and see who comes out of the woodwork.
[ ] Other (write in)

[ ] Home Comforts: Surely there's a more suitable place for you to set up shop than a mouldering guest room. See about securing lodgings:
-[ ] Elsewhere in the castle, somewhere you can set up a permanent base of operations.
-[ ] In one of the guard towers along the walls of Wurtbad. You can't be much of a wizard without a tower.
-[ ] In a local tavern, so you can keep your fingers on the pulse of the town.
-[ ] In a piece of local real estate, so you can craft it to your specifications. The downside is it will be completely known and accessible to everyone.
-[ ] In a hidden place within Wurtbad, either under the ground or within the slums.
-[ ] In a town near Wurtbad - it will mean commuting to work, but you could work on building up a power base out of the way.
-[ ] In the wilderness near Wurtbad - it will be uncomfortable and probably dangerous, but at least it will be very, very secret.
-[ ] Other (write in)

[ ]Research:
-[ ] This is Stirland. Time to bone up on your knowledge of the Undead.
-[ ] You only really kept in practice with a handful of the petty and minor magics you were taught. Maybe you should brush up on the others.
-[ ] You checked under all the sheets in the room to make sure a mirror wasn't under any of them, and thankfully all the metal fixtures are dull enough to not provide a reflection. Maybe you left the damn Asp back in Altdorf, but better not take chances. Finally admit it's existence to your contacts back in the College and see if they know anything that can help.
-[ ] You're naturally talented at enchantment; so far, this just amounts to being able to make your desk meow for about an hour. See if you can improve on that, or at least figure out a way to make that useful.
-[ ] Other (write in)